Roasted Chicken with Sumac

Turning the page into a new month that promises cooler temperatures has gotten me thinking of comforting foods like Roasted Chicken with Sumac. It’s easy to make and is heavily influenced by a chef named Ottolenghi.

Ottolenghi

The first time I encountered Yotam Ottolenghi was in a magazine I had checked out from the library. It was a food magazine, of course. The article was about a cookbook he was releasing and included some of his recipes.

They looked hard.

I mean, where does one even buy barberries and black garlic? And why were the ingredient lists so long? Would my family even eat a whole head of roasted cauliflower?

However, one recipe looked easy enough: roasted chicken. It involved lemon, garlic, plus several spices and I thought, “well, there’s no messing that up.” So I made it.

Marinade ingredients: red onion, spices, garlic, lemon.

It was incredibly delicious.

Now, I understood the cult following of Ottolenghi. The food he was sharing was so, so good. Afterwards, I decided I had to have not only that cookbook but all of his cookbooks.

The ingredient lists are still long and I don’t care. While the recipes aren’t hard, some of them do take time. The resulting dishes are worth it.

This roasted chicken recipe is easy enough to make on a weeknight.

Raw chicken in a bowl with marinade and red onions to the side.

Easy Weeknight Dinner

You might be wondering how I am mentioning Ottolenghi and easy weeknight dinner in the same breath. The chicken here can be prepped a day ahead and sit overnight in the marinade as long as you don’t add the lemon juice until just before cooking.

If poultry is left longer than 2 hours in something containing lemon juice or another acid, the meat begins to break down. I think we’ve all eaten chicken that was slightly rubbery or had a mushy texture. It was probably exposed to an acidic ingredient for too long.

So, the marinade and cook time is what make this recipe easy for weeknights because the chicken is completely hands-off once it goes into the oven. That leaves more time for prepping your side dishes, helping with homework, or scrolling through Facebook while the dish cooks.

9 by 13 pan of raw chicken and red onions with marinade.

How to Bake Chicken

If you google how to bake chicken, you will get a lot of different answers. Really it depends on what part of the chicken you are roasting and what kind of texture you are looking for in the finished dish.

The general rule of thumb for bone-in, skin-on pieces:

Baked low and slow for tender and juicy meat. Oven temp 350 F for 45 to 55 minutes.
Baked high and fast for crispy skin and tender meat. Oven temp 425 F for 35 to 40 minutes.

Boneless, skinless pieces like breasts: higher heat for a shorter time ensures the meat doesn’t dry out. Oven temp at 400 F for 20 minutes.

Plate of hummus, pita, cut lemons, and piles of parsley, pine nuts, and pomegranate seeds.

The 3 Ps

Pine nuts, pomegranate seeds, and parsley are the perfect trifecta of toppings for this dish. They add buttery flavor, tangy crunch, and herby freshness to the earthy ground sumac in this roasted chicken. Plus, they are so pretty!

Serve the dish with sides like pita, hummus, and a fresh salad to make a complete meal.

Lessons Learned

Don’t be afraid of the long list of ingredients. Eight of them are for the marinade. And there is nothing complicated to do here other than mix and pour.
Add the lemon juice to the marinade if you are marinating and roasting the chicken on the same day. I added the lemon juice, marinated for 2 hours, then roasted. It was perfect!
Fresh side dishes with some punch like this salad are a nice accompaniment to the roasted meat.

Hat Tips

Many thanks to Saveur and Yotam Ottolenghi for their sumac roasted chicken recipes.